After seeing John Waters evangelize a crowd of queers and film weirdos last night at his annual A John Waters Christmas (gay) bash, it feels like the holiday season is in full effect. If you're looking for more holiday raunch, might I suggest Matt Rogers' Christmas in December. Or if you're looking for a more secular shindig, what about the winter edition of Homie Fest? Either way, let something—anything—move you to joy this season.
If you're looking for listening recommendations while you're traveling over the river and through the woods, or while avoiding travel, check out the Mercury's Top 10 Albums of 2025 from local (and one Eugene) bands. Femme country, cosmic Black music, and Michael Hurley—it's all in there for you to enjoy.
Tuesday, December 2
Jens Lekman / Jordan Patterson
For fans of Destroyer, Rufus Wainwright, David Byrne
While working at Heart Coffee Roasters between 2012 and 2015, I was told that I wasn’t allowed to play Jens Lekman’s album Night Falls Over Kortedala because unchecked I would play it on repeat for hours and hours every single day. Shouts to Heart owner Reba Yli-Luoma, it was the correct call. That said, Lekman is a song-writer of exceptional talent. Though born and based in remote Sweden, his pop compositions build deeply relatable romantic frameworks with simple story-telling and complex string and synth arrangements. LA’s Jordan Patterson opens, touring behind her lush new album The Hermit. (Aladdin Theater, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)
Wednesday, December 3
Crush On Everyone ft. It’s You! It’s Me! And There’s Dancing!
For fans of Canadian Soccer, Joan of Jett, Antiquated T-Ball
After receiving the bummer news that Turn! Turn! Turn! will be closing at the end of the year, every event at the Killingsworth corner venue has become precious. Everyone’s favorite Midwest emo dance party, Crush on Everyone, will host their last concert and afterparty dance night at TTT featuring a live set by Portland’s ripper pop-punk homos It’s You! It’s Me! And There’s Dancing! If you haven’t seen this troop tear it up in one of Portland’s many punk house venues, this is the absolute next best thing. The night will end with dancy emo DJ sets by Final Form and the Crush on Everyone DJs. Please don’t let this be the last COE! (Turn Turn Turn, 7:30 pm, more info here, 21+)
Thursday, December 4
Sun Ra: Do The Impossible
For fans of For fans of Space Is The Place, A Joyful Noise, Points on a Space Age
Titling a Sun Ra documentary Do The Impossible is impossibly nuanced. Sun Ra’s discography is—as was the man himself—impossible to define. Broad strokes like Afrofuturism and spiritual jazz are the easiest routes taken when describing the prophet to the uninitiated, though his music and pathways are so expansive that a mere few words aren’t nearly enough. Do The Impossible will serve well to give deeper understanding to the now mythological musician. Timed perfectly, the documentary screens ahead of the Sun Ra Arkestra’s scheduled shows at Hollywood Theatre in February. For this screening both the film’s director and editor will be in attendance. (Mono Space, 7 pm, more info here, all ages)
Saturday, December 6
Homie Fest Winter Edition
For fans of local music, Brown music, queer music
After taking a seven-year sabbatical, Homie Fest is back in a big way in 2025. The fest’s grand return lit up Swan Dive’s two stages in late June with its deeply diverse lineup focusing on Brown and queer artists from the region. This, the first ever winter edition of Homie Fest, is similarly expansive in both genre fluidity and identities represented on stage. Favorites of this mini-fest include the punishing dance-noise of headliners Sea Moss, Talking Contest’s psych ramblings (the band includes ex-members of The Blood Brothers, Past Lives, and !!!), the extremely sexy beats of PsychoTropika, and the astral spacescapes of Cosmos Dark. (Swan Dive, 7 pm, more info here, 21+)
Sunday, December 7
The Piano Reimagined ft. Kinzie Steele Octet, Sama Dams, Luke Wyland
For fans of Nils Frahm, Irreversible Entanglements, Ann Annie
The piano, first developed as a hydraulic pipe organ in third century BCE Greece, is the backbone of modern composition. Since then, the third century BCE that is, there has been a good number of pianists: Nina Simone, Julius Eastman, and Jesse Waldmann to name just a few. Claiming that you are reimagining an instrument so old and storied is a grand statement, or maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s due to the vast applications of the piano that PNW composers like Kinzie Steele, Sama Dams, and Luke Wyland are able to blur the lines between traditional composition and the experimental, the avant-garde. Form and substance will convene on this special evening. (Holocene, 8 pm, more info here, 21+)
Matt Rogers: Christmas in December
For fans of Mariah Carey, making the yuletide gay, Whoville sexual exploits
One of the most important questions of our time has to be, “Have you heard of Christmas?” Not afraid to ask the tough questions, famous vers-bottom Matt Rogers—of Las Culturistas, Fire Island, and Q-Force fame—has done the near-impossible by creating a modern Christmas classic, double penetrating the gay yuletide with a comedy special and its companion album, both entitled Have You Heard of Christmas? On both the special and the album, Rogers does the work, letting us know that Santa and Jesus met at college in Bethlehem; that the Grinch is a grower, not a shower; and that Mrs. Clause isn’t one to be cheated on. Come, let us adore him. (Aladdin Theater, 7 pm, more info here, all ages)
Nü-klē-er Blast Suntan / Dismay / Pyrohag / Fenotype / War Hero
For fans of Ragana, Dystopia, Lebenden Toten
I don’t know anything about this band, never heard of ‘em before. But they’re from Portland, they rip, and should be seen live. Shanghai Tunnel is the perfect setting for this crusty ass lineup. (Shanghai Tunnel, 8 pm, more info here, 21+)
Also very worth it...
Andy Bell of Erasure at Newmark Theatre - Dec 2, more info here
Say Anything / Motion City Soundtrack / Oso Oso at Roseland Theater - Dec 3, more info here
Kill Michael / Raw Force / Lab Rat at High Limit Room - Dec 5, more info here
Domo Branch album release at Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center - Dec 6, more info here
Ambient Sundays ft. Amulets / Graintable / texted at Speck’s Records - Dec 7, more info here
Portland Music News:
'Tis the season for all you holiday huns out there! With that, may I present the first rad 2025 addition to holiday music cannon: Christmas by Portland's Omni Gardens. The album takes seven classics—"Sleigh Ride," Christmas Time Is Here," etc.—spinning them into a fine yarn, knitted into a bonnet of ambient music to keep your ears warm.
